Pentagon wants drones to replace some US troops in Sinai

The Pentagon wants to cut the number of US peacekeeping troops in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, partly because of the growing threat from the Islamic State group, an official said Tuesday. About 700 US troops participate in a UN operation established after Israel and Egypt signed a 1979 peace deal and agreed for a Multinational Force and Observers (MFO) mission to monitor compliance. Pentagon spokesman Navy Captain Jeff Davis said the Pentagon remains “fully committed” to the MFO mission but wants to use drones and other high-tech tools to assume some of the riskier work.